On the path to my dreams

Recently, a young woman (name has been changed for confidentiality) contacted me to find out about how to weave body image and self-love into a career. It made me feel inspired to describe my journey to my current career as well as envision for myself where my career is going. I have so much that I would love to do in my life. Sometimes it is important to think about where we have been so we can start to dream about where we are going. 


Hi Olivia,

So nice to get your email! I would love to tell you more about getting a Master's in Social Work. 

Most people I know who became social workers didn't "grow up wanting to become a social worker" its something that they stumbled upon, or came upon later on in their process because they realized at some point they wanted to do something to help people and address systems of oppression or societal injustice in some way. Social work is a hugely vast field but the main thing that binds us all together is working with people and addressing social issues. 

Body image is a HUGE passion of mine! I got my BA in Politics, Legal Studies and Music and was on my way to law school when I realized that people were cycling through the civil legal system because the underlying issues were never addressed adequately (eg. mental illness, poverty, low-income, lack of education, etc.). So I began thinking about how I could help AND I wanted The Body Positive work I had been doing in high school and college to be involved somehow. 

I ended up watching the movie Precious in theaters and went home and wrote my personal statement to apply to social work school. I thought the same as you that if someone (anyone!) could show young women that they were okay in their bodies just as they were and they could love themselves, they would avoid so much pain and suffering! 

I got into social work and pursued a clinical track which prepares you to be a therapist and learn about mental health. Even within that concentration there is a lot of variety, you could work with children, adults, older adults, families, couples, students (any age), etc. I did an internship with youth and families my first year of social work school and the next year with adults because I thought it would give me a balance and I could decide from there which population I liked more.

I decided that I loved working with adults in mental health settings and working with youth and young adults in my work with The Body Positive. I never had an eating disorder so I didn't feel passionate about helping people through their eating disorders, but I did struggle with body hatred and eating problems and know I am more passionate about prevention of eating disorders. 

What I do in my job is I am a mental health practitioner who works with adults with severe and persistent mental health disorders like Schizophrenia, Bipolar and Major Depression. A lot of the people I see also have substance use disorders/addictions. What I explored in social work school was how ALL people are affected by how they see themselves and their bodies. My clients who have serious mental health challenges will come to me and talk about how they hate their body. At first it surprised me because I was also the assumption that body image issues affected people who had more resources (the idea that if people had other concerns like getting their next meal, they may not have time to care about their bodies let alone hate it). But I learned that this is a universal issue! 

While I was in social work school I really began to see self-love as a universal human right and see it within a social justice lens. A lot of what you learn as a social worker is how to effect change on different levels: the individual, organizational and societal structures. Body image affects all people and in many ways that overlap with other social justice issues including LGBT rights, gender norms, abilities vs. disabilities, diversity, class, race, etc. My thesis was developing Body Positive curriculum for social work students so they could use it with their clients.

I am in the process of developing a new part of The Body Positive which I have just started and it is called Love Guerrillas. It will be an online and social justice/activism group with activism projects that people can do in their communities and share online. It has started as a blog and you can read about it here: http://loveguerrillasmanifesto.blogspot.com 

My suggestion would be to apply to social work school! Follow your passion! 

Hope my story helps!

Jessica